You've probably at least had a play with an iPad by now. Broad consensus?

It doesn't really do anything the iPhone can't but it's nonetheless
hugely desirable. Apple lust aside, this desire comes from the
opportunity to use it in new places at new times to do roughly similar
sorts of things. In that sense, it's a context device more than a
content device. And it's a clear demonstration of why context is so
important.

Ashley Cole has spent the past few years cast as a villainous love cheat
(seriously though, how could you Ashley?). For the next couple of weeks,
he's England's irreplaceable world-class left-back. The difference is,
of course, entirely down to a football tournament taking place in South
Africa. The difference is entirely contextual.

Why were Richard and Judy TV gold in the mornings and at tea-time (come
on, admit it) but make such uncomfortable viewing at peaktime? Context.
Why do intelligent, savvy millennials slump in front of a Hollyoaks
omnibus for hours on a Sunday morning? Context.

To make a case for the power of context seems so obvious as to be almost
insulting but we've spent so long discussing the power of content that
the vital importance of context too often gets overlooked.

Because while technology, apps and content multiply, the context in
which people use them doesn't necessarily follow. In the main, it's
context, not content, that anchors our daily lives. And, yet, it's
alarming how often context can be an afterthought in communication.

All too often, we still lump communication together in easy-to-trade
boxes and then say that TV does this, press does this. We talk about
"digital" as if a separate, singular entity. We predict the death of
this and birth of that. We create apps because we can. We assume that
because technology might allow people to live in bespoke universes of
one, this is what they will choose to do.

Getting context right helps create iconic brands and transforms
categories - Lurpak's Saturdays, Metro's sublime "Metro moment", UKTV's
rebranding of Dave - but it needs people to take brave decisions and see
beyond the obvious. So while it might not be that convenient to say so,
it matters hugely whether communication is intimate or mass,
authoritative or collaborative, personal, shared or networked, passive
or interactive, discovered or recommended, routine or irregular.

At its most basic, comms planning has perhaps only ever been about
understanding the right context to deliver the right content. As
opportunities for content grow, consideration of context can help unlock
genuine creativity.

Because while content may well be king, context is so often the
kingmaker.

Ian Darby is away.

- David Wilding is the executive planning director at PHD.

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